When it comes to no-hassle media playback it’s quite easy to recommend picking up one of Dune HD’s media streamers. They provide a simple “just works” content experience, but there is still some work to do when it comes to unified file storage and delivering a rich, navigable UI. Which is where VidaBox comes in with the “LiivNAS: Dune Edition”. […]
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No Home Automation (HA) is really complete without connected deadbolts making it possible to manage access. Which is exactly why I have the original Kwikset Z-Wave locks in my home. Frankly, I’m a big fan and there’s a lot to like about the locks, especially SmartKey which lets you re-key the locks whenever you want without involving a locksmith. There […]
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Panasonic’s ST line of plasma display panels (PDP) usually win the cost/benefit valuation for HDTVs, but it looks like this year they also topped last year’s best display. This is great news not just for 2013 ST buyers, but also hints at the good-things-to-come from the VT & ZT models. Panasonic’s ST60 models fall smack in the middle of their […]
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With a 17 watt integrated processor graphics (IPG) in a four-by-four inch chassis, Intel’s Next Unit of Computing (NUC) is of obvious interest to home theater PC (HTPC) enthusiasts. This footprint and low-power consumption, coupled with Intel HD 4000 graphics, promises to deliver an incredibly capable client system. It is small enough to hide away, or place discretely next to […]
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OK, they didn’t really kill any puppies (that I know of), but it certianly feels that way because they won’t be building better plasma display panels than the 2013 crop. It’s unclear what this means exactly – hopefully we’ll still be able to buy them until OLED’s production issues are sorted. Update: According to the HDGuru (who asked Panasonic), they […]
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Even those without a Home Automation (HA) system can appreciate the value in a keyless entry option for the home, but the real value for a lock like the Yale Real Living Electronic Touch Screen Deadbolt is realized by leveraging Z-Wave to integrate it in a HA system. After doing that, it unlocks a wide array of actions that simplify […]
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Today Intel announced at the North American Broadcasters show that they will be releasing a version of the Media SDK (MSDK) for Linux. For those who don’t know, the MSDK is the software layer that enables Quick Sync (QS) hardware accelerated video decoding and encoding. Given the location of the announcement Intel is probably targeting MSOs to use this technology […]
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After experiencing NETGEAR’s previous generation NeoTV NTV200, with solid function, value and distinction as one of the only media streamers with HDMI CEC support it was genuinely exciting when the NeoTV MAX (NTV300SL) arrived with a dual-sided QWERTY remote, full VUDU 3D and Netflix multichannel audio with subtitle support–that NETGEAR only asks $70 (MSRP) for the device was gravy. With […]
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Roku makes one of the most compelling Over the Top (OTT) streamers available today, offering oodles of content options, a clean, responsive UI, and (my favorite feature) universal search. Of course for those who want to use more than a few of the 750+ channels the current UI doesn’t scale well, so now we have another reason to like the […]
Read moreAs the months dragged on I was a bit concerned that the issue noted in our review of the TX-NR818 where it converted 23.976 content to 24.000 was not going to get fixed. Thankfully that is not the case because today Onkyo released a firmware update that resolves it (and a couple other issues) – Huzzah! I’ve been running a […]
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